Spring seat



06L 4, 153389 M FITQS 2,132,21

SPRING SEAT Filed Feb. 4, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet l l/VI/I IIIHIH w? 1M.FIITOS SPRING SEAT Unit. 4, 193.,

5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 4, 1938 yywxmxmmi E9330 M. FITOS 1 7 SPRINGSEAT .4 f a Z I @i Patented Oct. 4, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFHQE 5Claims.

This invention relates to certain, new and useful improvements in springseats.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a spring seatcomprising a seat bottom 5 mounted on a seat frame with spring devicesinterposed between the seat bottom and frame cooperating with acentrally disposed ball and socket or universal connection between theseat bottom and frame whereby the seat bottom is free to tilt in lateraldirections within the limits of the spring devices so that a personusing the spring seat may lean or bend over in all directions withsafety and without liability of falling therefrom.

A further object of the invention is to provide a spring chair or seatof the foregoing character and of the pedestal type embodying acentrally located universal connection between the seat bottom and seatframe with a circular series of spring devices surrounding the universalconnection between the seat bottom and seat frame permitting pivotal ortilting movement of the seat bottom, one form of the invention embodyinga seat bottom and sub-frame rotatably sup- 25 ported upon a seat framewhile another form of the invention embodies a non-rotatable seat bottomresiliently mounted upon the seat frame.

With the above and other objects in view that will become apparent asthe nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists inthe novel form, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter morefully described, shown in the accompanying drawings and claimed.

In the drawings:

35 Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a spring seat or chairconstructed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1,showing the circular series of spring devices with which the seat bottomis engaged;

Figure 3 is a detail sectional view taken on line 3-4 of Figure 1,showing the ball bearing support for the sub-frame of the seat bottom;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary Vertical sectional View showing the universalor ball and socket connection between the seat bottom and subframethereof and the laterally positioned spring devices between the seatbottom and sub-frame;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional View, similar to Figure 4, showingthe seat bottom in a tilted position within the limits of the springdevices associated therewith, the seat bottom and sub-frame illustratedin Figures 1 to 5, being of the pedestal type and rotatable upon a seatframe;

Figure 6 is a side elevational view of another form of the inventionwherein the sub-frame of the seat bottom is rigidly attached to the seatframe; and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the seat bottom andsub-frame, shown in Figure 6.

Referring more in detail to the accompanying drawings, and particularlyto Figures 1 to 5, there is illustrated a spring chair or seatcomprising a seat frame composed of legs Iii having floor engaging feetI! at their lower ends with the upper ends of the legs Iii curvedinwardly as at i2 for anchorage as by welding or the like to a centralcollar l3 that is vertically disposed to form a tubular support for theseat per se and devices associated therewith.

The spring seat construction designated in 2 general by the referencecharacter it includes a seat bottom l which may be of any configurationdesired, preferably circular in plan view and a lower disk plate IS, anaxially or centrally disposed universal connection being formed betweenthe seat bottom i5 and disk plate I 6 while a marginally positionedcircular series of spring devices are interposed between the seat bottomand disk plate. As shown more clearly in Figures 4 and 5, the plate I!is suitably anchored to the under- 0 side of the seat bottom l5 and hasone section of a ball socket i8 anchored thereto as at I9 by means of acircular series of screws, the socket member I8 carrying a central stud20 that is anchored in the bottom plate ll. The ball 2| of the ball andsocket joint is retained in the socket member l3 by means of the ring 22that is detachably secured as at 23 to the lower end of the socketmember l8 to extend beyond the equatorial line of the ball 2| as shownin Figures 4 and 5 so that the seat bottom I5 and socket member l8 mayfreely move in all directions over the ball 2|.

A stem 24 is formed integral with the ball 2! and projects peripherallytherefrom in a downward direction, the stem 24 being provided with ashoulder 25 and carrying a threaded shank 26, the stem 24 and threadedshank 26 projecting through the disk plate It with a washer 27interposed between the shoulder 25 and disk plate. An elongated tubularmember 28 is internally threaded at its upper end for the threadedreception of the shank 26 carried by the ball 2i, the upper end of thetubular member 28 being engaged with the lower side of the disk plate itand cooperating with the Washer 21 that is engaged with the shoulder 25on the stem 24 for clamping the disk plate 16 to the ball stem 24. Thetubular sleeve 28 is retained in engagement with the threaded shank 26of the ball 2| by means of the screw 29 passing through an opening inthe tubular member 28 and threading into a transverse opening in thethreaded shank 26 as clearly shown in Figures 4 and 5.

A tubular bearing 30 is anchored in the collar l3 at the upper ends ofthe legs I0 and is vertically adjustably mounted therein by means of setscrews 3i carried by the lower end of the collar l3 that have theirinner ends received in vertically spaced sets of sockets 32 formed inthe outer face of the tubular bearing 39. A disk flange 33 is carried bythe upper end of the tubular bearing 39 and rests upon the upper end ofthe collar I3, ball bearings 34 carried by the upper face of the diskflange 33 providing a support for the disk plate l6 of the spring seatconstruction. The tubular member 28 carried by the spring seatconstruction and depending therefrom is lowered into the tubular bearing30 to project below the lower end of said bearing as illustrated, a cap35 being threaded onto the lower end of the tubular member 28 below thetubular bearing 39 and anchored to the tubular member by means of thecross pin 36. It will be understood that the spring seat construction isfree to rotate in the tubular bearing 30, the disk plate It of the seatconstruction resting upon the ball bearings 34 carried by the diskflange 33 while the tubular member 28 is freely rotatable in the tubularbearing 38.

Spring devices are interposed between the seat bottom 65 and disk plateIt and comprise a plurality of spring elements arranged in circularseries at the marginal edge of the disk plate I6 around the ball andsocket joint, each spring element comprising a block 3'! carrying adepending screw pin 38 passing downwardly through an opening in the diskplate it for reception of a lock nut 39. A vertical screw 4! is threadedinto the upper end of the block 3'?! and has a head 4| at the upper endthereof. A sleeve 42 is slidably mounted upon the upper end or shank ofthe screw 43, the lower end of the sleeve 12 being swaged inwardly as at43 to provide an abutment for engagement with the head 4! of the screwwhile an outwardly directed flange 44 is carried by the upper end of thesleeve 42. Coil spring 5 surrounds the screw and sleeve 42, the upperend of the spring being engaged with the flange 44 while the lower endof the spring is engaged with an abutment shoulder 46 on the upper endof the block 3l. The tension of the spring is varied by the extent towhich the screw 40 is threaded into the block 31. A relatively softwasher or disk i! of copper or like material is placed in the sleeve 42for engagement with the head 4| of the screw and to provide a seat forthe bearing ball 48 freely mounted in the sleeve 42.

The normal position of the seat bottom [5 is shown in Figures 1 and 4and when the threaded shank 26 of the ball 2i is engaged with thetubular member 28, the seat bottom l5 and disk plate [6 are moved towardeach other for normally placing the springs 45 under tension withflanges 44 at the upper ends of the sleeves 42 engaged with the bottomplate ll carried by the underside of the seat bottom I5. With the seatbottom [5 horizontally positioned as illustrated, the balls 48 in thesleeves 42 are spaced from the bottom plate H and the spring seat per se[4 is free to rotate by means of its tubular member 28 journalled in thetubular bearing 30. The seat bottom I5 is free to tilt within the limitsof the springs 45 and as shown in Figure 5, the seat bottom when tiltedteeters on its ball and socket joint, one or more of the sleeves 42being lowered against the tension of associated springs 45 and at whichtime the balls 48 in said sleeves are positioned for engagement with thebottom plate I! which will permit slight rotative movement of the seatbottom l5 relative to the disk plate [6. The ball and socket joint l82iguides the seat bottom IS in its tilting movement and maintains the seatbottom in a correct position relative to the seat frame comprising theleg structures. A person using a spring seat or chair of the characterdisclosed herein is permitted free unobstructed body movement in alldirections. As shown in Figure l, a brace ring 52 for the legs 10issecured to the outer sides of said legs by means of clips 53.

In the spring seat construction shown in Figures 6 and '7, the springseat construction per se is identical with the disclosure in Figures 1to 5 except that the seat construction is non-rotative, the disk plateifia being fixedly secured as at to the upper ends of the legs Hla. Asshown in Figure 6, a brace ring 5! for the legs la is secured to theinner sides of said legs. The threaded shank 25 carried by the ball 2|passes through the disk plate [Ga and is anchored thereto by means ofthe cap nut 3511.

While there are herein shown and described the preferred embodiments ofthe invention, it is nevertheless to be understood that minor changesmay be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as claimed.

I claim:-

1. In a chair or seat construction of the character described, a baseframe including supporting legs, a spring seat construction at the upperends of the legs including a seat bottom and a disk plate below the seatbottom supported on the base frame, a centrally positioned ball andsocket connection between seat bottom and disk plate for universaltilting movements of the seat bottom relative to the disk plate, and acircular series of spring devices interposed between the seat bottom anddisk plate and surrounding the ball and socket connection said springdevices being secured at their lower ends to the disk plate with flangedheads at their upper ends freely engaged with the seat bottom andanti-friction means associated with the spring devices and adapted to beengaged with the seat bottom when the spring devices are compressedduring tilting movements of the seat bottom.

2. In a chair or seat construction of the char acter described, a baseframe including supporting legs, a spring seat construction at the upperends of the legs including a seat bottom and a disk plate below the seatbottom supported on the base frame, a centrally positioned ball andsocket connection between seat bottom and disk plate for universaltilting movements of the seat bottom relative to the disk plate, acircular series of spring devices interposed between the seat bottom anddisk plate and surrounding the ball and socket connection, said springdevices being secured attheir lower ends to the disk plate with flangedheads at their upper ends freely engaged with the seat bottom andanti-friction means associated with the spring devices and adapted to beengaged with the seat bottom when the spring devices are compressedduring tilting movements of the seat bottom and said spring seatconstruction being rotatably mounted on the upper end of the base frame.

3. In a chair or seat construction of the character described, a baseframe including supporting legs, a spring seat construction at the upperends of the legs including a seat bottom and a disk plate below the seatbottom supported on the base frame, a centrally positioned ball andsocket connection between seat bottom and disk plate for universaltilting movements of the seat bottom relative to the disk plate, acircular series of spring devices interposed between the seat bottom anddisk plate and surrounding the ball and socket connection, said springdevices being secured at their lower ends to the disk plate with flangedheads at their upper ends freely engaged with the seat bottom andanti-friction means associated with the spring devices and adapted to beengaged with the seat bottom when the spring devices are compressedduring tilting movements of the seat bottom and said spring seatconstruction being rigidly mounted on the upper end of the base frame.

4. In a chair or seat construction of the character described, a baseframe including supporting legs, a spring seat construction at the upperends of the legs including a seat bottom and a disk plate below the seatbottom supported on the base frame, a centrally positioned ball andsocket connection between seat bottom and disk plate for universaltilting movements of the seat bottom relative to the disk plate, acircular series of spring devices interposed between the seat bottom anddisk plate and surrounding the ball and socket connection, each springdevice including a variably tensioned sleeve carried by the disk plateand a flange at the upper end of the sleeve normally engaged with theunder side of the seat bottom and a bearing ball in the sleeve normallyspaced from the upper end thereof and adapted for engagement with theunder side of the seat bottom when the sleeve is lowered during tiltingmovements of the seat bottom.

' 5. In a chair or seat construction of the character described, a baseframe including supporting legs, a spring seat construction at the upperends of the legs including a seat bottom and a disk plate below the seatbottom supported on the base frame, a centrally positioned ball andsocket connection between seat bottom and disk plate for universaltilting movements of the seat bottom relative to the disk plate, and acircular series of spring devices interposed between the seat bottom anddisk plate and surrounding the ball and socket connection, each springdevice including a block anchored to the marginal edge of the diskplate, a headed screw rising from the block, a sleeve having an annularflange at its upper end slidable on the block and an abutment on itslower end engaged with the head of the screw, a coil spring surroundingthe sleeve and screw and engaged with the block and sleeve flange and abearing ball in the sleeve normally spaced from the upper end thereofand adapted for engagement with the underside of the seat bottom whenthe sleeve is lowered during tilting movements of the seat bottom.

MIKLOS FITOS.

